I knew that my father had left to search through the layers of hell for Emily, even though I had asked them to promise. A mere technicality was saving him from breaking the promise, my mother had promised, not him. I felt cheated by it.
Instead of traipsing around the globe, drinking as the time zones allowed, I was laying on my bed. No Emily, no Luca, I didn't even have the will to get off the bed.
The door opened and closed quietly, the soft footsteps were easily placed. My mother and her comforting words were here in an attempt to make me understand the reality of the situation. I couldn't be with Emily, we were from opposite worlds and they were worlds that were not meant to meet. But we didn't just meet, we collided in spectacular fashion.
She sat on the edge of the bed beside me, I looked up to the sweet and sympathetic smile.
"He will not harm her Brannon, he loves you too much to even contemplate it."
"Yeah, that's great."
"You know that you couldn't expect him to not search for her, don't you? You can't bring an angel into hell and not expect the devil to ensure she behaves."
"Yeah."
She rubbed my back, trying to coax me into a better mood. I preferred sullen and displaced.
"Tell me about her."
I turned my head to look at her, seeing genuine interest.
"She's not like other angels. They're so self-centered and righteous but Em's somewhere in the middle."
"Maybe that comes with being an infra."
Nodding in agreement I turned over and sat back against the headboard.
"There is so much determination. She was prepared to stay in Emery's office knowing that dad was in there. Infra angels are told to avoid the devil yet she stands there with defiance. She knows that she will be no match against him but it doesn't matter. She followed me into a vampire club, facing off against a dozen of them, hungry and desperate. All because she knew that I would protect her."
"And you did."
Glumly I nodded, wrapping my arms around my legs. I rested my head on my knees and looked out the window, the view of the underworld was falling to a dull haze. I'd never seen such odd weather.
"What's wrong with the underworld?"
I heard a soft chuckle from my mother, curious about her humour I looked up at her.
"That would be you, darling, your mood alters the weather. The trees sway in the wind when you're drunk, it looks like they're having a grand old time, partying to the soft wind that moves around them."
So that's how my father knew what I was up to.
"When you're sad it rains and now, well maybe this is disappointed in how things turned out. I don't know, I've not seen the haze before. When Cara was born it rained for a week because you were upset you didn't get a brother, when Delaney arrived it thundered. Personally, I'm hoping that I'm carrying a boy because I worry what you will do if it's another girl."
"I'm eighteen mom, pretty sure I don't care anymore."
She laughed again, taking my hand into hers.
"I know darling." She sighed wistfully. "Your father and I won't stop you from loving who you want to Brannon but you have to allow your father to do what he needs to, to ensure that this world is kept safe. He will always have your interest at heart but he has a lot of people to keep safe. Do you understand what I'm saying, Brannon?"
"Yeah." I said with a sigh.
Silence hit us for a few minutes, my mother stood to look out the window. The haze was still low making visibility poor.
"How well do you know this girl?"
"I barely know her, she always blended into the background. It sounds so stupid, doesn't it? I've brought her here and I don't know her."
She turned, offering a shrug as she walked back.
"That's why you date a person Brannon. You get to know them, learn about the good and the bad things about them, the things you love and the things that annoy you. Relationships are not perfect, they do not follow a set pattern of how things should happen, there are no rules as to what is meant to be. You take each day as it is, feed and grow the love and then one day you will wake up and realise that you could never imagine a day without them. You are still so young Brannon, you don't need to rush anything. How old is Emily?"
"Uh, I think she's eighteen."
"They sent an eighteen year old infra angel to watch the son of the devil? I find that hard to believe considering the risk of running into your father would always be high."
She was right, why would they send someone so young? Any angel could pretend they were a teenager, so why send such inexperience?
"I would be really careful if I were you Brannon." She said as she said down beside me. "Maybe she's not as young as you believe. Maybe she's not an infra as she says."
The door swung open, my father had returned. Calmly he walked in and closed the door, pulled my desk chair over and sat next to the bed. Anxiety gripped me, watching as he did everything in his careful and calculated movements. I wish he would just blurt it out, to tell me everything that was said, what was going to happen and what he was thinking. I wanted to know how Emily was, if she was still in hell and what she wanted for the future.
As he opened his mouth to speak, he looked from my mother to me, offering no visual indication of what had gone on, his mood or anything.
"She has defected." He said simply.
I looked at my mother who had just as much shock as I had, I never expected him to say that.
"What do you mean Anton? How can an angel defect to the other side, wouldn't she always be an angel?"
He shook his head, offering a sinister smile.
"No my beautiful love, she is now a fallen angel. With a little time, those pristine white wings will turn black with the scourge of evil as it seeps into her body."
"So now what? Are you just letting her into hell?"
"Not until the change is completed. She's in our little island paradise until the changeover is done."
He turned and looked at me with so much pride I was shocked.
"You may visit as you please but until I am satisfied that she has fallen completely, she cannot leave the layer. When I am satisfied that she is done then I shall release her."
As he stood he gripped my shoulder, beaming a rather large smile at me.
"I must say, Brannon, I am impressed. Not satisfied with a mortal human or even an immortal being, you aimed high. You aimed so damned high that it will shake their world to its very core. Imagine the waves of realization that would be rippling through them right now, they would feel her falling, they would know that they have lost an angel to the devil."
He let go of me and put the chair back. As he took my mother's hand to help her to her feet, he looked back at me.
"Hell is closed until her fall is complete, the gates are locked and I will notify the school that you won't be attending for a few days yet. In the meantime, I would suggest that you two get to know each other. She's given up a lot to be with you, I'd hate to see this relationship fizz out to nothing."
My parents walked out of the room leaving me with so many emotions. Elated that Emily had given up so much for me yet worried that things wouldn't work out between us and it would leave her in a really bad place. A fallen angel, shunned by her former life, unable to walk the path of her new life, it wouldn't be fair on her. I had to make this work.